1. Field
Embodiments relate to a paper feeder, a control method thereof, and an image forming apparatus having the same, the paper feeder being configured to receive a number of sheets of paper, which reduces the frequency at which paper must be supplied.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus is designed to form an image on a printing medium based on an input image signal. Examples of image forming apparatuses include printers, copiers, fax machines, and devices combining functions thereof.
In operation of the image forming apparatus, a photoconductor, which has been charged with a predetermined electric potential, is exposed to light such that an electrostatic latent image is formed on a surface of the photoconductor and subsequently, a developing unit provides the electrostatic latent image with developer to form a developer image. The developer image formed on the photoconductor may be transferred to paper directly or by way of an intermediate transfer unit. Finally, the image transferred to the paper is fixed to the paper via fusing.
The image forming apparatus includes a paper feeding cassette in which several sheets of paper are received so as to be fed upon image forming.
Recently, regardless of the presence of the paper feeding cassette, the image forming apparatus tends to employ a High Capacity Feeder (HCF), which is designed to successively feed a number of sheets of paper into the image forming apparatus.
A conventional high capacity feeder includes a first paper loader to receive paper to be fed into the image forming apparatus, a second paper loader to receive paper to be fed into the first paper loader, a moving member to push and move the paper received in the second paper loader to the first paper loader, and a sensing unit to sense whether or not the moving member has reached a reference position so as to know when to stop the moving member.
With regard to operation of the high capacity feeder having the above-described configuration, if the first paper loader is completely out of paper, the paper received in the second paper loader is moved into the first paper loader by operation of the moving member. The moving member stops operation if the sensing unit senses that the moving member has reached the reference position.
The high capacity feeder, however, has difficulty changing the stop time of the moving member based on the size of paper because it has no ability to know the size of paper.
Therefore, the conventional high capacity feeder always stops the moving member at the same time regardless of the size of paper, and it may be necessary to inconveniently adjust a position of the sensing unit based on the size of paper to be used in the high capacity feeder, prior to initiating operation of the high capacity feeder.